factory finish on valances and rocker panels Options

[sgrisanti]

Is the color satin black and did they use an undercoat first and then the paint. I appreciate your response. What was the factory finish.

[Pat Garvey]

OK, in 1978 I, and a friend (Gregg Gandee) contacted Chuck Stoddard about this. Chuck was one of the premier 914 phobes of the day & had direct links with the high ups at the Factory.

He asked the same question re: refinishing the F&R valences & rocker covers, and forwarded the response to us. Per his instructions, all four parts should be stripped to bare metal, primed with a good quality primer (no mention of zinc-based primers), and Shutzed at 35 psi max pressure, using the gun provided bt 3M. This applied to 914's & 911's of the era (1960-73 cars). We boght the gun together. He used it on his & turned it over to me. His panels came out beautifully, even after the Wurth satin black.

I did mine while the 914 was being repainted. Stripped them to bare metal. Prep solved them & applied primer. Let dry for a week. Then, with a compressor set at 35 psi applied a coat of Body Sutz to the front valence/apron. Came out too "pebbly", so I stripped it again, primed it again, rested it again. Sprayed on the Shutz at 30 psi. Too knobby! Did it again, from scratch, and sprayed the Shutz on at 32 psi. It was dead on! Let it dry for 2 weeks & covered it with Wurth satin black. It's a gorgeuos finish & matches perfectly the early rear valence that I bought last year.

Unfortunately, the spray gun was sent back to Gregg so he could redo his 72 911. Then he moved from Dayton to Redlands & lost interest in Porsches.

It is a low pressure gun, so should still be fairly inexpensive.

I can send picks of the finish if anyone is interested.

As to the roof, I suspect it was finished similarly. With many years of polishing & cleaning mine is shiney, yet nubby.
Pat